Devoted

April 20, 2015
Rachel, the second sister of 10 children, attends Calvary Christian Church in Clayton, Tex. When she’s not at church, she cares for her younger siblings and household, “learning how to be a wife and mother; a helpmeet with a cheerful countenance.” Unlike her older sister, Faith, 17-year-old Rachel struggles to accept this apparently inevitable future: her father makes her destroy A Wrinkle in Time, a book that he says dishonors the Lord, and Faith corrects her for unintentionally defying “biblical femininity.” Employing first-person, present-tense narration, Mathieu (The Truth About Alice) draws readers close to the drama raging in Rachel’s mind, while she performs repetitive, stifling tasks. When her parents discover her most brazen sin, defying her father’s order to avoid “those who have left the flock,” they present Rachel with a choice: attend a camp she fears will brainwash her or leave home. This exploration of life within and removed from a fundamentalist community makes for riveting reading, all the more poignant for the sympathetic characters in both worlds. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sarah LaPolla, Bradford Literary Agency.

December 1, 2015

Gr 7 Up-Seventeen-year-old Rachel Walker helps care for her five younger siblings, is homeschooled, and attends Calvary Christian Church. When her parents discard her copy of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time because of the magic in the story, Rachel wonders about the Journey of Faith Camp, where teens are sent for infractions against the strict life insisted on at Calvary. Will she be sent there, too? Jennifer Grace's reading creates a sweet and genuine Rachel and also gives credibility to Mr. Walker, Pastor Garrett, and the other characters. The plot moves slowly as Rachel waits for emails from a girl, Lauren Sullivan, who left her parents and Calvary Christian Church. Readers will question their own beliefs and the freedoms they take for granted. VERDICT Rachel's soul-searching is sure to strike a chord with teens. ["Readers will be drawn into [Rachel's] anguish even though the outcome will come as no surprise": SLJ 5/15 review of the Roaring Brook book.]-Mary Lee Bulat, Harwinton Public Library, CT

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